For the first time, the members of all UNION sales concepts – factory equipment, tools and power tools – were invited to one location at the same time. The plenary meeting was held in Mainz over two days in March, with the first day dedicated to UNION factory equipment and the second day to UNION tools and power tools.
In addition to a review of the year, the approximately 130 participants on both days were given information on the sales situation as well as facts and figures on UNION catalogues, current challenges such as inflation surcharges, changes in the procurement market and supply problems as well as changes to the product range and suppliers.
The topic of data transfer to members is of great importance. For this reason, the program included a presentation by the E/D/E Digital Consulting and Projects division: E/D/E data formats, in particular the advantages of the new XXL data set and Data as a Service as an outlook for the future data supply of member companies.
UNION factory equipment participants were also given an insight into the possibilities of the marketing portal and the E/D/E eFabrik. Frank Düringer, who is responsible for the E/D/E supply networks, was connected online and presented all of the available machines and systems in the eFabrik.
Participants at UNION Werkzeuge und Elektrowerkzeuge received information on the corresponding sales concepts and catalogues and on the digital possibilities of the Oxomi platform. It makes working with catalogues, price lists, article images and videos much easier and provides additional marketing support for distributors. The E/D/E power tools team also provided information on activities in this product range area as well as on the Hans Sauer GmbH service and spare parts store and its advantages. The E/D/E AKADEMIE also took part in the conference with a presentation by Dr. Sören Kiefer on the challenges and opportunities of personnel recruitment. The agenda also included the elections of the advisory boards.
Fred Ströter, Head of Sales Concepts, summarized: “As always, the E/D/E network thrives on networking. This was once again made clear by the many members who praised the exchange with each other as an essential part of the event.” [hw]
